“The climate is changing,” Hogsett said at the summit, “its consequences, very real.

“If the tragedies of the last several weeks have taught us anything, it is this: How well cities are prepared will determine their success over the years and decades to come,” he added. “Indianapolis will be prepared.”

With this commitment, Indy joins the ranks of many other cities around the country and world — including Seattle, New York, Minneapolis, London, Berlin and Sydney — who are working to reduce or eliminate their carbon footprint. That footprint is a measure of how day-to-day activities that produce greenhouse gases — such as burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat and transportation — affect the environment and climate.